A brief preview of planned tours for the Kirov's fall season. The current "plan" remains to close the Mariinsky Theatre for renovations lasting "18 months" (or longer) as of Jan. 1, 2007. When the company is not on tour, it will perform on several other St. Petersburg stages -- but for the most part, the core troupe will often be on the road.

This plan is not favored by the dancers, needless to say, and many locals are concerned about it too.

Of course, the Kirov closure coincides with the Bolshoi closure and this may lead to the companies slugging it out over the most prestigious venues. They are going head to head in London this year and it will be interesting to see which company emerges in better shape after the enforced period of touring.

Right - I knew about the Kremlin theatre, which has existed since Soviet times. And I knew about the small stage of the Bolshoi. Does this mean the main theatre is closed now? (I havent been following things there -- too consumed w/all things Kirov up here!) Last I had heard in August (2005) was that the Finance Minister announced there was not enough funding to close and renovate for three years as planned. I haven't heard news that funding has been found and plans are "on" since then -- but its possible I'm just out of the loop.

I assumed the company was constructing another (I guess you would call it 'third') stage in the event of closure, as with the Mariinsky. But perhaps that was misassumption, and their plans would also include mega touring abroad in that event... Just curious. I do see from their site that on April 22 they're performing on the Kremlin stage... I know this is slightly off topic but if both theatres were to close at the same time...

The Palace of Congress within the Kremlim is home to the Kremlin Ballet and also acts as a receiving house for other companies, Bolshoi included. The Bolshoi has always had a 'second stage' a couple of streets away that duplicated the dimensions of the main house and was used mainly for rehearsals but I believe the seating capacity was minimal. The 'new stage' is a temporary building adjacent to the theatre.

The main Theatre is now quite definitely closed and is due to reopen in 2008, I obtained this information at a recent press conference at the Russian Embassy in London so it is guaranteed accurate. Both main Russian companies will be 'homeless' at the same time.

Cassandra, I was hoping you would appear to answer this question! Thank you. I had seen the second stage/building last April, and at that time both theatres were "active". So its good to know that renovations are going forward in the BT, but... "uh oh" is all I can say about both closures in general, and at the same time.

Fedora, the so-called 'small stage' is in the old Bolshoi Theater, which is completely closed. A totally separate, brand-new large opera house -- called the 'New Bolshoi' -- was opened to the public on December 2002. I attended its opening with the opera 'Snow Maiden.'

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